Ethan’s POVI shook my head as the reality of what he was saying occurred to me. I got to my feet still shaking my head with a smile of disbelief on my face. “You’re kidding me,” I said.The elders stared at each other, all thirteen of them, and only the one who spoke earlier had the guts to rise to his feet with his hunched back. “King Ethan, don’t you see…the possibilities and how well this will profit everyone?” He asked.“No, listen, you all have got to be kidding me. This is the fucking modern era, not some age where some fucking marriages are arranged.” I said, the smile disappearing from my face as I cast a glowering stare at them. “This is absurd.” “Yes, it is, but it is the only way.” The elder said firmly.From the corner of my eyes, I saw the curious and eager look on Lowell’s face and I knew he wanted to say something and he did. “We should also consider the fact that the king, Ethan, might have a mate already.” He said.All eyes fell on me, all thirteen quizzical, worn
Ariah's POVWhen I woke up on the couch and didn’t find Beta Lowell on the couch, I didn’t even bother to check the basement because I knew they were gone. When I eventually went down, the first smell that came to my nostrils was that of King Ethan’s scent. His scent was so strong that it gripped the whole atmosphere in the room and I loved it. For the rest of that day, I didn’t see the king or his beta, Lowell, it didn’t get me. I was excited about it, but only for a very short while. I became bored and started to feel lonely very quickly, the events of the previous night flooding into my head. It had to be the king who had carried me when I fainted during the attack. He was the only person in sight and I would never forget the look I saw in his eyes before he reached me. So vicious and determined, it was like he could have devoured anyone at that time, all for me. How did he even know I was in danger? All these thoughts made my insides curl with excitement. Even though he had prob
Ariah's POVKing Ethan drank for a while without saying anything to me. He just sat on a couch, refusing to allow me to attend to his needs, if he had any that is. I was really confused, there was a dejected look on his face. But something made me smile inwardly, if something was wrong and he came to me first, what did that mean? Was he developing an attraction for me? Or could it be trusted? That could be the case. I just sat quietly on a couch far away from him, then he dropped the half-empty bottle and said. “Come over here, Ariah.” He tapped the space next to him on the couch he sat on. “Come and sit here.”I didn’t completely trust him. I didn't trust him at all. I believed that his actions were partially influenced by the alcohol, but could I refuse his orders even if they were under alcoholic influence? I couldn’t. I stood up and sat next to him, there was still a little distance between us. “What do you think?” He asked.I stared at him blankly, I didn’t know what he was ta
Ethan's POVThe moment I heard the shrill sound of the shattered bottle, something snapped in my head and I closed my eyes. I thought I had snapped out of the influence of the alcohol but then I realized that not all my actions were completely under the influence of the alcohol. A part of me was sober and I willingly kissed Ariah.I stared at her as she jumped and got on her knees to pick up the broken pieces of the bottle. “Ariah, what are you doing?” I asked, staring down at her.“I'm so sorry I broke your expensive bottle of Whisky, King Ethan, please don’t move so that it won’t harm you. I’ll pick all the pieces up, I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for this. I have no money and no valuable properties I can trade for it. My gosh, I’m so sorry about this.” She kept talking hysterically and rapidly.When she was about to pick up another broken piece, I put my hand on hers and she froze instantly. Once again I felt that spark of the mate bond and that made me give up denying
Layla Campbell’s POVI didn’t like it.I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror when I stared at it. My cheekbones were too high, my blonde hair was too long and its brightness too sharp, my full lips were too red and my eyes weren’t large enough. All this I voiced out in frustration as my maid walked in. “Breakfast, Princess Layla.” She bowed and announced. “I don’t want breakfast, I’m not coming down today,” I replied gloomily and as she was about to protest, I dismissed her. “Leave, just leave before I get angry.”She didn’t even need to think twice, she retreated immediately and I kept staring at my reflection. I had to meet with my father today, I always found it difficult to even see him because of how busy he was. “Being the Alpha of this pack isn’t so easy, my dear. But I’ll always create time for my little precious one.” He would always say to me.I wondered why he still referred to me as his “little” precious one. I wasn’t so little anymore, I was already twenty years old
Ariah’s POVAt first, I couldn’t believe what was happening, it was like a dream come true. The first time I met King Ethan after I had been captured for trying to escape, after the bond I felt, I had always imagined a day like this. Truthfully, I never thought it would come. I thought it would just be a replay of the life I had escaped from my pack, but here I was, in his arms comfortably. I still breathed heavily because I was still weary of him. First of all, I couldn’t trust him completely for a lot of reasons. The first being that I couldn’t understand the look in his blue eyes, it was as if his emotions were hidden behind a curtain. His eyes were just plain and expressionless, but I could feel the heavy thumping of his heart and I noticed the way his lips twisted slightly at the edges. When I wriggled slightly, his grip around me loosened and his hands just dropped at his side, letting me go easily. I looked at him for a while, and realized something was wrong. “What’s the m
Ethan's POV She never listens. She still called me king. I had been thinking the whole time about the feast Lowell and I had been invited to, there was one major thing I was considering. I finally made up my mind, Ariah was coming with me to that feast, whether she got an invite or not, it didn’t matter. As long as she was with me, that was enough to make her welcome at the feast. “What did I say about calling me Ethan?” I asked.“I don’t think I can get used to it so quickly, you know.” She said, her tone impatient. “You’re leaving my curiosity hanging, Ethan.” “First of all, like I said earlier you will no longer be a prisoner after today, that means you’ll leave this house called the quiet place,” I said and thrust my hands into my pockets. Her eyes widened, “Leave? But why, king…” She paused and looked at me embarrassingly. “Why, Ethan?” I smirked, “The loneliness here was supposed to serve as some sort of punishment, I won’t ever forget that you tried to escape from my pack
Ariah's POV I was scared alright, very scared. The moment Ethan mentioned a few werewolves, the first person my mind drifted to was Alpha James. What if he was there? What if he saw me? There was no way he wouldn’t recognize the girl he had been so mean to, there was no way he wouldn’t throw a tantrum. If that kind of thing happened, it would be a complete mess, chaos in fact, it wasn’t just that Alpha James would want to take me back as his prisoner, no. That was one of but not my major worry. First, Ethan was going to discover who I truly was and if he did, he might despise me all over again for lying to him. Secondly, if Ethan found out that Alpha James had locked me up in a cell and constantly abused me, it wouldn’t be difficult anymore for him to put two and two together. As it stood he already hated the person who had raped me without even knowing who it was, I was afraid of what would happen. That could lead to a fight, a fight between a Lycan king and an alpha werewolf